PayThink

A recap of the informed opinions (and the discussions they generated) on BankThink this week.

The Hill newspaper has named 18 of Washington's biggest power brokers who are most likely to influence financial policy decisions related to the implementation of the Dodd-Frank Act this fall.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Department of Justice have launched an investigation into PNC Financial Services for possible discrimination on the pricing of certain mortgages.

Consolidation is needed to help the economy because there are too many banks, argues the author, a longtime bank investor. Many parties benefit from deals, and any return for the seller is better than producing poor results or being seized by regulators.

Its landing page should make it easy for prospective customers to see where to sign up for an account, research interest rates and apply for a loan or credit card.

Migrating to EMV does not mean card issuers have to do away with their instant-issuance systems.

After President Obama's comment regarding the housing market becoming constrained with regulations, bank regulators may start to feel the pressure to ease back on pending mortgage rules.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency should further narrow the circumstances in which Fannie or Freddie can make a lender repurchase a loan. This would encourage lending and strengthen the recovery.

Buyers, sellers and shareholders rarely profit from bank acquisitions, the author argues. There are too many things that have to go right in the pricing and integration, and there is too much that can go wrong.

Now the pressure is on banks to develop creative new products and services and work harder to show their value.